Apparatus for orienting articles



May 31, 1966 F. J. BROWN ET AL APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1965 FIG-I FIG-3 I /v v- TORS F. .1. BROw/v muse/(mus MF. GUB/TOSE BY 7% 2 ,4 r TORNEY May 31, 1966 F. J. BROWNETAL 3,253,735

APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May31, 1966 F. J. BROWN ET AL 3,253,735

APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet .5

May 31, F J. BROWN ET AL APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 8,1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Ill FIG-7 May 31, 1966 F. J. BROWN ET AL APPARATUSFOR ORIENTING ARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 8, 1965 FIG-l2 UnitedStates Patent 3,253,735 APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING ARTICLES Ford J. Brown,Kutztown, Barry M. Eckhaus, Easton, and

Nicholas F. Gubitose, Emmaus, Pa., assignors to Western ElectricCompany, Incorporated, New York, N.Y.,

a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 430,814 Claims.(Cl. 221-9) This invention relates to apparatus for orienting articlesand, more particularly, to apparatus for orienting elongated,paramagnetic articles having asymmetrically shaped ends. Accordingly,the general objects of this invention are to provide new and improvedapparatus of such a character.

In the manufacture of scaled contacts for use in ferreed switches, twometallic contacts are assembled in parallel, overlapping relationship,and are then sealed within a glass envelope. Each of the contacts iscomposed of a paramagnetic material and has a round end and a fiat end.In order to facilitate the mass production of the sealed contacts it isfirst necessary to arrange the individual contacts in a mannercompatible with such type production. One way this may be accomplishedis to deposit a randomly arranged supply of the contacts in a vibratoryfeeding bowl which advances them, single file, to a track, and then toorient the contacts such that their like ends face in the samedirection. Since the contacts, although arranged in a single file, arerandomly arranged with respect to their endwise orientations, to orientthem in the foregoing manner requires that the orientation of certain ofthe contacts be reversed in an end-for-end manner.

It is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide new andimproved apparatus for reversing in an endfor-end manner the orientationof an elongated, paramagnetic article.

Another object of this invention is to provide continuous automaticequipment of a relatively simple nature for detecting the orientation ofadvancing elongated, paramagnetic articles having asymmetrically shapedends, and :for reversing those articles which are detected to be in anundesirable orientation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, apparatus illustratingcertain features of the invention may include first and second unlikemagnetic poles. An article whose endwise orientation is to be reversedis advanced to the poles in a manner causing the leading end of thearticle to be attracted by the pole nearest thereto and the lagging endof the article to be attracted by the pole furthest therefrom, tothereby pivot the article about its leading end to a reverseorientation. Alternatively, the reversal can be accomplished with asingle magnetic pole of sufficient strength, mounted along the base ofan inclined track down which the article is advanced.

Preferably, the track is formed with a step in its base a short distancein advance of the magnet, or the first pole when two poles are employed,to provide additional gravity assistance to the pivoting of the articleabout its leading end. Further, the magnet is preferably anelectromagnet which is energized when it is desired to reverse theorientation of an article and deenergized after reversal to release thereversed article.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description of a specific embodimentthereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of apparatus embodying certain principles ofthe invention for orienting elongated, paramagnetic articles havingasymmetrically shaped ends;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a paramagnetic contact havingasymmetrically shaped ends which may be oriented with the apparatus ofFIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is 3,253,735 Patented May 31, 1966 a perspectiveview of a sealed contact incorporating two of the paramagnetic contactsillustrated in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1,illustrating the cross section of a first track employed in theapparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevation view, with parts brokenaway for the sake of clarity, of an escapement mechanism incorporated inthe apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevation view, with parts brokenaway for the sake of clarity, of a detector incorporated in theapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a circuit forming part of the detector;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are enlarged views, taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 6,with parts removed and broken away for the sake of clarity, illustratinghow oppositely oriented contacts are positioned in the detector;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view taken along the line 99 of FIG. 1,illustrating the cross section of a second track employed in theapparatus thereof;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevation view, with parts brokenaway for the sake of clarity, of an orienting station incorporated inthe apparatus of FIG. 1 and employing an electromagnet;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are elevation views, with parts removed for the sakeof clarity, illustrating the passage through the orienting station ofoppositely oriented contacts; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an energization circuit for theelectromagnet of the orienting station.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown apparatus for orienting articles, such as contacts 1010, havingasymmetrically shaped ends. As more clearly seen in FIG. 2A, eachcontact has a cylindrical or round end 11 and a paddle-shaped or flatend 12. Additionally, each of the contacts 1010 is composed of aparamagnetic material, by which is meant a material capable ofexperiencing attraction by a magnet to a sufficient degree for thepurposes of this invention to be fulfilled. In the particular example,the material is "52 alloy," an alloy consisting of approximately 52percent nickel and 48 percent iron. After being oriented, the contactsmay be advanced to an assembly machine such as that disclosed in theco-pending application of N. F. Gubitose and I. J. Monahan, Serial No.332,101, filed December 20, 1963, now Patent No. 3,- 223,446 andassigned to the assignee of the present application. In the assemblymachine, two of the contacts 1010 are assembled in parallel, overlappingrelationship and then sealed within a glass envelope 13 to form a sealedcontact 14 (FIG. 2B) for use in a ferreed switch (not shown).

Referring back to FIG. 1, the apparatus includes a vibratory feedingbowl 16 of a generally conventional type into which the contacts 10--10are deposited in random order. The bowl 16 is provided with a spirallyinclined track 17 about its inner periphery and is mounted on anelectromagnetic drive unit 18. When actuated, the drive unit 1.8 impartsvibrations to the bowl 16 in a manner such as to cause the contacts 1010therein to move radially outwardly of the bowl and in a circular pathalong its inner periphery. The track 17 is shaped such that, as thecontacts 1010 are advanced thereto, they are formed into a single file.The contacts 1010 proceed up the track 17 until they reach the uppermostpoint thereof, whereupon the contacts are advanced to a first straight,downwardly inclined track 19. As seen in FIG. 3, the track 19 isprovided with a channel 21 having lands 22-22 for receiving the flat end12 of a contact 10 and an arcuate groove 23 for receiving the round end11 thereof. The track 19 is further provided with cover plates 24-24which serve to guide the contacts 10-10 through the channel 21.

Escapcment The contacts 10-10 proceed down the track 19 to an escapemcntmechanism, designated generally by the numeral 26, which serves to haltthe advancement of the file of contacts and release the contacts one ata time for further advancement down the track. As best seen in FIG. 4,the escapement mechanism 26 comprises two identical, spaced units 27 and27, only one of which, the unit 27, will be described in detail. Theunit 27 includes a cylindrical pin 28 having a fiange 29 at its lowerend and a reduced upper end 3]. The pin 28 is vertically movable intoand out of the channel 21 of the track 19 through a complementary shapedbore formed in the body of the track. Movement is imparted to the pin 28by actuation of an air cylinder 32 having a plunger 33 and a housing 34,the housing 34 being threadably fixed in one leg of an inverted T shapedmember 36 secured to the underside of the track 19. When air (from asuitable source not shown) is supplied to the interior of the housing 34through an air inlet line 37, the plunger 33 drives the pin 28 upwardlyinto the channel 21. The pin 28 and the plunger 33 are provided withrespective compression springs 41 and 42 which serve to return thesemembers to a downward position upon deactuation of the air cylinder 32.Additionally, the dual compression spring arrangement provides a softupward movement of the pin 28 so that the pin does not strike a contact10 with a force sufiicient to damage it.

The pins 28 and 28' of the units 27 and 27' are alternately movable intoand out of the channel 21 and are spaced such that, when the pin 28 isin its up position to impede the passage of a contact 10 down the track19, the pin 28 is in its lower position beneath the next succeedingcontact 10 to permit its advancement into abutment with the precedingcontact. (This is the position of the pins 28 and 28 seen in FIG. 4.) Inoperation, the pin 28' is first moved upwardly to engage and hold thecontact 10 in registration therewith. The pin 28 is then moveddownwardly to allow advancement of the leading contact 10. The pin 28 isthen returned to its up position and the pin 28 moved downwardly,whereupon the contact 10 previously held by the pin 28' advances to andis halted by the raised pin 28. In this manner, only one contact 10 at atime is released from the escapement mechanism 26.

Detector After being released from the escapement mechanism 26, thereleased contact 10 travels down the track 19 to a suitable detector,designated generally by the numeral 43, which functions to detect whichend of the contact, i.e., the round end 11 or the fiat end 12, isleading. The specific detector 43 to be described herein forms thesubject matter of the related co-pending application of B. M. Eckhausand E. W. Nelson, Serial No. 430,958, filed on even date herewith andassigned to the assignee of the present application.

As is best seen in FIGS. and 8A, the detector includes a coil unit 44and a jaw unit 46 arranged in the path of travel of the advancingcontacts -10, such that each contact 10 passes first through the coilunit 44 and is then momentarily stopped by the jaw unit 46 while theorientation of the contact 10 is sensed by the coil unit 44.

The coil unit 44 includes a nylon tube 47 mounted at its left end (FIG.5) to the track 19 in alignment with the channel 21 so that the contacts10-10 can advance therethrough. Two coils are wound around the tube 47,

a primary coil 48 and a secondary coil 49. Advantageously, the coils 48and 49 are encapsulated in a suitable insulating material 51, such asepoxy resin. Electrically, the coils 48 and 49 are connected in thedetecting circuit of FIG. 7 which will he described in detail below.

Referring to FIGS 6 and 8A, the jaw unit 46 includes a base 52 in theform of a rectangular block and a pair of like jaws 53-53 disposed onopposite sides of the base. The inner opposed surfaces of the jaws 53-53are cut away such that when the jaws are closed, as shown in FIGS. 6 and8A, the jaws envelop the base 52 and define with the base an enclosedtapered passageway 54 into which the contacts 10-10 advance from thetube 47. The entrance end of the passageway 54 receives the right end(as viewed in FIG. 5) of the tube 47, the left end of the tube 47 beingpressed into a complementary shaped recess 56 formed longitudinally inthe track 19.

The dimensions of the passageway 54 are such as to pass the round end 11of the contact 10 therethrough but not the (wider) flat end 12. Asillustrated in FIG. 8A, if a contact 10 advances to the passageway 54from the escapement 26 with its tint and 12 leading, the flat endstrikes the walls of the passageway near the entrance end thereof. Thishalts the contact 10 in a position where the major portion of thecontact (most of the round end 11) is disposed within the coils 48 and49. Conversely, if the round end 11 of the contact is leading (FIG. 8B),the round end 11 passes through the passageway 54 and the Hat end 12enters and strikes the walls of the passageway as previously described.This, however, halts the contact 10 in a position where no part of thecontact is disposed within the coils 48 and 49.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the jaws 53-53 and the base 54 are supported bya top plate 57, a bottom plate 58 and two like side plates 59-59 whichare secured to the top and bottom plates by screws 61-61. Additionally,as seen in FIG. 5, the side plates 59-59 are secured at their left endsto a support member 62 which is fixedly connected to the track 19. Attheir right ends the side plates 59-59 are secured to a seconddownwardly inclined track 63 which receives the contacts 10-10 after thedetector has functioned.

The jaws 53-53, as best seen in FIGS. 6 and 8A, are movable toward andaway from each other by a pair of identical pins 66-66 having conicallytapered lower portions which are movable into respective bores 67-67formed in the jaws 53-53 through an opening 68 formed in the top plate57. The pins 66-66 are disposed eccentrically of the bores 67-67 suchthat as they enter the bores their tapered surfaces engage the top edgesthereof and laterally move the jaws apart by cumming action. As the jaws53-53 move apart, they compress respective compression springs 68-68which serve to return the jaws to their closed position when the pins66-66 are moved out of the bores 67-67.

The pins 66-66 are fixedly connected at their upper ends to a transversesupport member 69. The support member 69, in turn, is fixedly connectedto the shaft 71 of an air cylinder 72 which when actuated drives thepins 66-66 into the bores 67-67. The air cylinder 72 is supported by aU-shaped member 73 which is secured to the top plate 57.

Referring now in detail to the circuit of FIG. 7, the primary coil 48 ofthe coil unit 44 is connected in parallel with a capacitor 74 to form atuned cricuit 76, and the tuned circuit thus formed connected in aseries circuit including an oscillator 77 and a capacitor 78. Thesecondary coil 49 is connected in the input circuit of a transistoramplifier 79. The input circuit of the transistor amplifier 79additionally includes a rectifier diode 81 and a biasing resistor 82.DC. bias voltage is applied to the transistor amplifier 79 by a suitableDC. voltage source 83. The output circuit of the transistor amplifier 79includes a relay 84 having a capacitor 85 connected in paralleltherewith.

The capacitors 74 and 78 are selected such that the tuned circuit 76 isat resonance with the oscillator 77 when no contact is within theprimary coil 48. Accordingly, a relatively large signal at this time isinductively coupled to the secondary winding 49. This signal, afterrectification by the diode 81, is applied to the input of the amplifier79 which amplifies the signal and impresses it across the relay 84. Themagnitude of the amplified signal is such as to cause energization ofthe relay 84. The relay 84 remains energized as long as no contact 10 iswithin the primary coil. When, however, a contact 10 is disposed withinthe coils 48 and 49, i.e., when a contact is positioned within thepassageway 54 with its flat end 12 leading (FIG. 8A), the inductancethereof changes because of the paramagnetic nature of the contact,resulting in a de'tuning of the tuned circuit 76 with a concomitantdecrease in the signal developed thereacross. This, in turn, results ina lowering of the input signal to the transistor amplifier 79 which, inturn, results in a lowering of the signal impressed across the relay 84to a value insufficient to maintain energization thereof. Accordingly,the relay 84 deenergizes. Thus, it is seen that the condition of thedetector relay 84 after a contact 10 is positioned in the passageway 54indicates the initial orientation of the contact. As will be seen below,the detector relay 84 performs a control function in the subsequentorienting of the contacts 10-10.

After the detector 43 functions to detect which end of a contact 10 isleading, the jaws 5353 are moved apart by the air cylinder 72 to releasethe contact for advancement down the track 63 which is provided with achannel 86 (best seen in FIG. 9) having relatively high side walls, forreasons which will become apparent from the following discussion.

orienting station Referring to FIG. 10, the released contact 10 proceedsdown the track 63 to an orienting station, designated generally by thenumeral 87, which, in accordance with certain features of the invention,functions to reverse the orientation of the contact if the fiat end 12is leading. If the round end 11 of the contact 10 is leading, thecontact passes through the orienting station 87 without a reversal ofits orientation.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the orienting station 87includes a horseshoe shaped electromagnet 88 having two poles 89 and 91.The magnet 88 is supported by a bracket 92 which is connected to theside of the track 63 by means of screws 93-93 which pass through theside of the track and through oval shaped openings 9494 in the bracket.The openings 9494 enable adjustment of the longitudinal position of themagnet 88 relative to the track 63. The magnet 88 is encrgizable bymeans of two windings 96 and 97 connected to each other so as to formone composite electrical coil 98 which is included in an energizationcircuit (FIG. 12) to be described in more detail below.

The base of the channel 86 has a step 99 therein in advance of themagnet 88. When a contact 10 reaches the step 99, it drops off the stepand, because of gravity, partially pivots about its leading end. Theheight of the step 99, and the angle of inclination of the track 63 aresuch that the contact 10 will not completely pivot, but will retain itsinitial orientation as long as the magnet 88 is not energized (FIG.11A). When, however, the magnet 88 is energized, developing a magneticfield and magnetizing the poles 89 and 91 with unlike polarity, the pole89 nearest to the advancing contact 10 attracts the leading end thereofwhile the other pole 91 furthest from the contact attracts the laggingend thereof (FIG. 11B). Accordingly, the contact 10 pivots about itslead ing end in an end-for-end manner to a reverse orientation.

While it is preferred to reverse articles with a horseshoe-type magnethaving two unlike poles adjacent to the track 63, it is also possible toreverse articles with a single magnetic pole corresponding to the pole89 shown. In this instance, the shape and angle of the track 63, and thestrength of the magnet are set so that the article pivots about itsleading end by the combination of gravity and the lines of magneticforce emanating from the single operative pole. In this situation, themagnet must generally be stronger and the angle of the track steeperthan when the preferred combination of two operative poles is employed.

Referring now to the magnet energization circuit of FIG. 12, the coil 98(which, as will be recalled, represents the two windings 96 and 97 inseries) is connected in a series circuit which includes a source of DC.power 101, a variable resistor 102 and a contact 103 of the detectoroutput relay 84. A diode 104 is connected in parallel with the coil 98for are supression purposes and a contact protection circuit including aresistor 106 and a capacitor 108 is connected across the contact 103.

As is readily seen, the coil 98 (and, hence, the windings 96 and 97) isenergized as long as the contact 103 is closed and is deenergizedwhenever the contact is open. It will be recalled that the detectoroutput relay 84 (FIG. 7) remains energized (and, hence, the contact 103open) as long as a contact 10 is not disposed within the coils 48 and49. In this connection, it should be noted that the capacitor inparallel with the relay 84 precludes the relay from being deenergizedduring the transit of a contact 10 through the tube 47 to the passageway54 (FIGS. 8A and 8B). Accordingly, when a contact 10 having its roundend 11 leading is released by the detector jaws 5353, no energizingcurrent is supplied to the windings 96 and 97 of the magnet 88 and, as

" seen in FIG. 11A. the contact 10 passes through the orienting station87 without its orientation being disturbed.

When, however, a contact 10 having its fiat end 12 is in the passageway54 of the detector 43 (FIG. 8A), the detector relay 84 is deenergizedclosing the contact 103 and resulting in energizing current beingsupplied to the coil 98, to magnetize the poles 89 and 91. Accordingly,when the contact drops off the step it pivots (as seen in FIG. 1113)into the magnetic field resulting from the magnetized poles 89 and 91and is reversed in an endfor-end manner so that its round end 11 isleading when the contact leaves the orienting station 87. It should benoted that the Capacitor 85 prevents the relay 84 from immediatelyreenergizing when the contact 10 is released from the detector 43, therelay not reenergizing until the capacitor charges to the energizationvoltage of the relay. The capacitor 85 is selected such that it does notcharge to this voltage until completion of the orientation of thecontact.

Thus, as is seen, all of the contacts 10 leave the orienting station 87with the same orientation, i.e., they all have their round ends leading.At the bottom of the track 63 the contacts enter a tube 109 whichdirects them to a suitable receptacle represented schematically by theblock 111.

Summary of operation The contacts 10-10 are deposited in random order inthe bowl 16 and are fed up the track 17 thereof in a single file to thetrack 19. The contacts 1010 then proceed by gravity down the track 19 tothe escapement mechanism 26, the pins 28 and 28' of which are in thepositions shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, the advancement of the leadingcontact 10 is halted. The air cylinder 32 is then deactuated and the aircylinder 32' actuated, whereupon the pin 28 retracts to release theleading contact and the pin 28 is extended to engage and hold the nextsucceeding contact. The air cylinder 32 is then reactuated, and the aircylinder deactuated to return the pins 28 and 28' to the positions shownin FIG. 4.

The contact 10 released from the escapernent mechanism 26 proceeds downthe track 19 to the detector 43, the jaws 5353 of which are in a closedposition at this time to form the passageway 54 and thereby halt theadvancement of the contact 10. If the round end 11 of the contact 10 isleading (FIG. 8B), the contact is halted outside of the coils 48 and 49and the detector relay 84 remains energized. If the flat end 12 of thecontact 10 is leading (FIG. 8A), the contact is halted within the coils48 and 49, whereupon the detector relay 84 is deenergized, closing thecontact 103 and energizing the magnet 88. The air cylinder 72 is thenactuated to open the jaws 5353 and release the contact 10. If

the contact 10 is of the desired orientation (round end 11 leading), itpasses through the orienting station 87 without its orientation beingchanged. If, however, the contact is improperly oriented (flat end 12leading), the orientation thereof is reversed as the contact passesthrough the orienting station 87.

The air cylinders 32, 32 and 72 are operated in timed sequence by asuitable electrical timing circuit (not shown).

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merelyillustrative of the principles of the invention. Other embodiments maybe devised by persons skilled in the art which embody these principlesand fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for reversing in an end-for-end manner the orientation ofan elongated, paramagnetic article, which apparatus comprises:

(a) an inclined track down which the article is advanced in thedirection of its elongation; and

(b) a magnet positioned along the base of the track so as to attract theleading end of the advancing article toward the magnet and stop theleading end adjacent to the magnet;

the shape and angle of the track and the strength of the magnet beingset so that the article pivots about its leading end to a reverseorientation.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the track is formedwith a step in the base thereof a short distance in advance of themagnet to provide additional gravity assistance to the pivoting of thearticle about its leading end.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein: the magnet is anelectromagnet; and means are provided for energizing the electromagnetwhen it is desired to reverse the orientation of an article advancingdown the track, and for deenergizing the electromagnet after reversal ofthe article to release it.

4. Apparatus for reversing in an end-for-end manner the orientation ofan elongated, paramagnetic article, which apparatus comprises:

(a) first and second unlike magnetic poles; and

(b) means for advancing an article to said poles in a manner causing theleading end of the article to be attracted by the pole nearest theretoand the lagging end of the article to be attracted by the pole farthesttherefrom, to thereby pivot the article about its leading end to areverse orientation.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the means for advancing thearticle includes a track having a step in the base thereof in advance ofthe poles which causes the article to partially pivot about its leadingend to a position such as will enable the attractive forces of the polesto complete the pivoting of the articles to a reverse orientation.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5, wherein the track is inclinedat a predetermined angle.

7. Apparatus for orienting elongated, paramagnetic articles havingasymmetrically shaped ends so that the articles have their like endsfacing in the same direction, which apparatus comprises:

(a) first and second selectively magnetizable members;

(b) means for feeding articles, single file, to the members in a mannersuch that when the members are magnetized an article advanced to themembers has its leading end attracted by the member nearest thereto andits lagging end attracted by the member farthest therefrom, to therebypivot the article about its leading end to a reverse orientation; and

(c) means in advance of the members for sensing the orientation of eachof the articles and for magnetizing the members each time a sensedarticle is in an undesired orientation.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an escapement disposed alongthe predetermined path in advance of the detector is provided forhalting the advancement of the file of articles, and for releasing thearticles, one at a time, for advancement to the sensing means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the means for feeding thearticles includes a track having a step in the base thereof in advanceof the magnetizable members which causes an article advanced thereto topartially pivot about its leading end to a position such as will enablethe attractive forces of the magnetizable members to complete thepivoting of the article to a reverse orientation when the members aremagnetized, but which will not cause complete pivoting of the articlewhen the members are not magnetized.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the magnetizable members arethe legs of a horseshoe-shaped electromagnet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,080,435 12/1913Gamper 221-198 2,499,422 3/1950 Schmidt 19833 2,662,626 12/1953 Grahamet a1 19343 2,796,359 6/1957 Speed.

2,823,781 2/1958 Bosch 193-43 2,967,642 1/1961 Curry 221-173 3,975,8783/1961 Cason 193-43 RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

WALTER SOBIN, Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR REVERSING IN AN END-FOR-END MANNER THE ORIENTATION OFAN ELONGATED, PARAMAGNETIC ARTICLE, WHICH APPARATUS COMPRISES: (A) ANINCLINED TRACK DOWN WHICH THE ARTICLE IS ADVANCED IN THE DIRECTION OFITS ELONGATION; AND (B) A MAGNET POSITIONED ALONG THE BASE OF THE TRACKSO AS TO ATTRACT THE LEADING END OF THE ADVANCING ARTICLE TOWARD THEMAGNET AND STOP THE LEADING END ADJACENT TO THE MAGNET;